Overcoming Weight Loss Plateau?

So ive been calorie counting for a month and a half now, and ive lost 20 pounds, and suddenly i just stopped losing weight. I havent changed my diet, and my calorie deficit should still last me a long time. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to break this plateau?

I heard eating what you used to eat for 3 days would break it, but im not sure about that, id rather get my information from the horses mouth.

Personally when I hit plateau's what worked for me was to up my calorie intake to maintain level for 3-5 days and change up my workouts ( so if I was running, move to yoga, or if doing yoga switch to weights and cardio).
Stick with it though, you can push through them! Good luck!

Same here, it's always making another change that gets things moving again for me. I'd start with adding some calories. Nothing crazy, an extra tub of yogurt, an avocado with dinner. Just went through a slow period myself. I upped calories 300 a day and varied my circuit routine and bam 3 pounds gone in two days.

it's called calorie cycling... the body is a ridiculously efficient machine. it eventually learns how to use to the optimal benefit the calories you give it, causing you to stop losing weight... if you up your calories by 500-700 in staggered amounts for a few days, you will confuse your body, causing it to begin losing weight again. you may gain a slight bit, but you will kick your body back into overdrive...and lose more faster without really seeing the gain...

Oh yes definitely push through! I thought I was crazy.. Didn't lose for over two weeks. I let myself have a little extra one week.. Because I thought well I'm not losing anyway and sure enough! Lost 2 the next week and 3 the following week!

Well, if you lost 20 pounds in only a month and a half, you may be over restricting unless a LOT of that was water weight in the first week or two. If you are over restricting, that could result in your metabolism slowing down a bit and your body being less willing to drop more weight.

If you're not over restricting, then it could be lots of things. How long have you been on the plateau? If it's been less than 2 weeks, it could very well just be water weight related to a high sodium intake a few days ago, extra water that sore muscles are holding onto, or maybe your period is close?

I've been on a plateau for about 2.5 months now. I've lost some weight in that period, but not very much. I've only lost 5 pounds since December 16th, which is VERY slow compared to the 1-2 pounds I used to lose every single week prior to that point. Each time I've managed to lose weight in the last 2.5 months, it's been because I've switched up my workout routine. I lost 2 pounds in one week after I'd been lifting weights for 2 weeks and then I lost another pound here and there when I changed my cardio workouts and starting getting more strict with weight lifting.

So basically, come to a conclusion of whether it's related to over restricting, water weight, or an actual plateau. If it's from over restricting, use the tools on this site to find a healthy calorie target for your age, weight, and activity level. If it's water weight, drink lots of extra water (it sounds like the opposite of what you should do, but it will make you drop the excess water weight) and weigh again in a few days. If it's a real plateau, switch up your exercise and eating to trick your body into losing again.